St. Paul loses lawsuit to developer; Meridian project to move forward

The developer behind a proposed office and warehouse complex on Pelham Boulevard has won a legal battle with the city of St. Paul, effectively greenlighting construction to move forward.

Neil Polstein, an attorney for Industrial Equities and the Meridian project, called the Tuesday, Oct. 9, ruling from Ramsey County District Court Judge John Guthmann "decisive."

"You can indeed fight City Hall," Polstein said.

In his legal ruling, Guthmann called the city's Comprehensive Plan "the epitome of vague" when it comes to design standards, and pointed out that the city allowed the Meridian site to remain zoned for industrial development and then did not allow industrial development to move forward.

"The council's interpretation of the newly revised Zoning Ordinance produced an absurd and unreasonable result," the judge wrote.

Industrial Equities CEO John Allen has proposed a 68,000-square-foot office and warehouse building at 620-650 Pelham Blvd., which is about a quarter-mile from the Raymond Avenue light-rail station along University Avenue. Allen on Tuesday said he plans to immediately apply for a building permit, adding that he spent $75,000 in legal costs trying to bring jobs to St. Paul.

The $8 million project is expected to bring 68 to 200 jobs.

The 5.2-acre parcel is bounded by railroad tracks to the north, Interstate 94 to the south, the Rock-Tenn cardboard recycling plant to the east and Pelham Boulevard to the west.

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The property, an industrial site since the 1950s, housed two Overnight Express warehouses until the St. Paul Port Authority demolished them to make room for the Meridian project. In October 2010, Industrial Equities submitted a site plan to the city for a single-story, office-warehouse building set back from Pelham and Wabash avenues, with surface parking extending to both streets.

In April 2011, the city council adopted most of the St. Paul Planning Commission's zoning recommendations encouraging pedestrian-friendly residential and commercial development along the Central Corridor.

The new "traditional neighborhood (TN-4)" zoning area, however, preserved industrial zoning on the Pelham Boulevard site and at the Monarch Bus Co. bus storage yard across the street, as well as the Rock-Tenn paper mill and the Rock-Tenn barbed wire trailer lot.

In October 2011, the city council heard an appeal from the Union Park District Council and voted unanimously (two members were absent) to reject the Meridian project, arguing that 650 Pelham should have buildings up to Wabash Avenue.

Council members hoped to remain in keeping with the new neighborhood-style aesthetic near light-rail stations, with pedestrian-friendly business entrances located close to the sidewalk, and surface parking lots tucked behind buildings.

The city council noted nearly every building between the Pelham site and the Raymond Avenue light-rail station had a zero setback, while the proposed Meridian complex would be set back 60 feet from the street.

The city's Comprehensive Plan calls for "making development fit" along the Central Corridor through design standards.

The judge noted, however, that established zoning codes effectively trump the Comprehensive Plan.

A spokesman for the mayor's office said Tuesday that city officials were still reviewing the decision, which came out late in the afternoon, and no decision had been made on whether to appeal.